title: Inhibition of return in the visual field: the eccentricity effect is independent of cortical magnification.
abstract: Inhibition of return (IOR) as an indicator of attentional control is characterized by an eccentricity effect, that is, the more peripheral visual field shows a stronger IOR magnitude relative to the perifoveal visual field. However, it could be argued that this eccentricity effect may not be an attention effect, but due to cortical magnification. To test this possibility, we examined this eccentricity effect in two conditions: the same-size condition in which identical stimuli were used at different eccentricities, and the size-scaling condition in which stimuli were scaled according to the cortical magnification factor (M-scaling), thus stimuli being larger at the more peripheral locations. The results showed that the magnitude of IOR was significantly stronger in the peripheral relative to the perifoveal visual field, and this eccentricity effect was independent of the manipulation of stimulus size (same-size or size-scaling). These results suggest a robust eccentricity effect of IOR which cannot be eliminated by M-scaling. Underlying neural mechanisms of the eccentricity effect of IOR are discussed with respect to both cortical and subcortical structures mediating attentional control in the perifoveal and peripheral visual field.
authors.affiliation: Peking University, <location>Beijing, PR China</location> University of Munich, <location>Germany</location>
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schill
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pöppel
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Strasburger
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cortical magnification; eccentricity effect; inhibition of return; visual attention; visual field